Existing digital video compression techniques are complex processes which rely upon a variety of techniques in transforming (i.e., “encoding”) a unit of uncompressed video data into an encoded form. Such encoding permits fewer bits to be used in representing the content of the original uncompressed video data. The resultant encoded data is capable of being transformed using a reverse process (i.e., “decoding”) yielding a digital video unit of data that is either visually similar or identical to the original data. Modern techniques of digital video compression can achieve very high levels of compression.
The Motion Pictures Experts Group (MPEG) and the International Standards Organization (ISO) have produced various international standards specifying the video compression and decompression algorithms for video coding. These standards include MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.261, H.264, and the newer High-Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard, which has significantly improved compression efficiency relative to its predecessors. In particular, HEVC is able to achieve a 2× compression ratio at a same subjective quality as compared to the prior H.264 standard. To achieve these compression optimizations, the HEVC standard has introduced several new tools designed specifically for parallel processing of video content on multi-core processor architectures. In particular, many smartphone and tablet architectures available on the market now utilize multi-core processors and thus are capable of playing back HEVC content using their multi-core architectures. Furthermore, with the growth of video traffic over networks, the HEVC standard provides certain tools that alleviate some of the bandwidth requirements for distributing high quality content.
Protecting the distribution of digital content from piracy and other types of unlawful distribution is yet another concern for content providers. The term Digital Rights Management (DRM) is utilized to describe access control technologies that are used to control access to and/or copying of digital content. DRM systems typically involve the use of cryptographic information to control access to or protect a piece of content. Content protection is typically achieved using cryptographic information such as (but not limited to) one or more encryption keys to encrypt content.
Various types of encryption schemes currently exist that may be used to protect data. In the digital world, encryption is often implemented by using a collection of bits of some length known as a “key” to execute a predictable transform on a unit of data. This yields another unit of data that cannot be “read” without knowledge of the key used to execute the transform. The process of encryption is only easily reversible to the extent the encrypting key or its counterpart (e.g., a “public” key) is available for use in transforming or “decrypting” the encrypted data back into the original form. Video data is often encrypted using a symmetric block cipher conforming to, for example the Data Encryption Standard (DES) or Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). The particular techniques used to encrypt digital content may yet consume further processing resources that need to be taken into account with respect to the encoding and distribution of content across a network.